A/N: This chapter's a little shorter. My apologies. It just kinda flowed that way.
Nathan paused just long enough to hear the skeleton details of what had happened aboard the ghost ship and then he was approaching Lucas, all signs of the tough world-weary Captain gone, and those fatherly instincts he was sure had disappeared when Robert did were quick on the rise.
Lucas had come out of his hiding spot and was staring around the lab. "I know this place." He said quietly to himself.
"As you should, you've spent a lot of time here." Bridger said, crouching down so that he was eye level with the boy. "Do you remember who I am, Lucas?" he knew that the memories were there, but they were foggy, almost at a distance.
"Yeah. You're the captain. And kinda like my dad on the ship." He replied with a small smile, referring to the fact that Nathan was now his guardian. Suddenly they boy's face fell, and he backed up, looking quickly all around him. "Is my old Dad here? He'll be mad at me."
"He's not here Lucas, there's nothing to worry about. There's nothing to be mad at you for."
"Yes there is," he said. Nathan could see his lower lip trembling as the boy fought to hide his emotions. "It was my fault. I did this because I was trying to figure out the laser based machine on the other boat."
"Lucas, we all know that you were just doing your job, ok? No one blames you, and we're all going to work to fix this. Speaking of which," he looked up at the others, "we should get to the wardroom and try and figure this out."
The meeting was running forever, it seemed. Ford was impatient with the whole situation, and Piccolo wasn't so sure he wanted to be turned back. Not everyone gets a chance to relive their 20s. Ideas were batted around for hours on how to fix the situation. Lucas had offered to go back to the ghost ship and try to reverse it with the machine. Dr. Smith had offered to do some research in her medical texts.
They were currently debating whether everyone could be allowed to go back to their stations – it wasn't just their bodies that were affected, they were all mentally some sort of hybrid between the present day selves and the younger versions they had been changed to. And from watching Lucas it was apparent that it was more entrenched the younger they were.
The Captain's eyes flicked around the table and stopped on the youngest crewmember. "I think we need to call it a night everyone." There were murmurs of protest, which he ignored, making his way towards the chair where Lucas was curled up fast asleep.
"Hey little buddy," he stage whispered, brushing the hair out of the boys eyes. "It's past your bedtime I'd say." Lucas opened his eyes slowly and sleepily and looked at him briefly. For a brief second Nathan's heart swelled when Lucas raised his arms up and circled his neck, silently asking to be carried to bed.
The captain reached down and lifted him, and Lucas rested his head on the man's shoulder and quickly fell back to sleep.
"Commander Ford," he asked quietly, "can you see that someone brings a cot into my quarters?" Jonathan looked at him quizzically, and Nathan gave a small nod towards Lucas. "He's 6 years old commander, he can't sleep in his own quarters by himself."
"Right. I'll get that done for you captain."